Service Blueprinting - Spotless Service Company - Assignment Example

Service Blueprinting Name: Institution: Service Blueprinting 1. Describe why you choose this particular organization to blueprint Spotless is a service company that deals in dry cleaning activities. The organization delivers different dry cleaning services to numerous and organizations in Australia and New Zealand (Watkins, 1985). The targeted areas include catering and hospitality, cleaning services, facility management, cleaning grounds and gardens, laundry, maintenance, security services and waste management. Service blueprinting this company is essential since it will not only assist in planning for the organization, considering the need to expand to other markets, but also help in the development of new ideas, while providing potential and actual customers with a service cycle overview (Reid & Bojanic, 2010). Service blueprinting of Spotless Company will graphically outline services, processes and activities considering that there is need to understand how the company integrates different services within its management. Through service blueprinting, it will be easier have a visual perspective of the service development process (Reid & Bojanic, 2010). This is inclusive of the contact point between the customers and the companies. It will also help in identifying points of failure while discovering possible areas of innovation to enable the company to progress in the competitive market (Saffer, 2010). Service blueprinting of Spotless Company will ease the identification of cost saving techniques that the company can potentially use to ensure the development of an excellent base for additional service-process management (Watkins, 1985). 2. Describe three key elements of physical evidence revealed in the blueprint and discuss how they influence the customer’s experience Employees, employee dresses and tools and equipment used in service delivery are the key elements of physical evidence that are revealed in the blueprint. Employees of the company form an essential group of individuals who have a close contact with clients of the company (Lush et al, 2009). Employees engage in direct interaction with customers who request for services by addressing the problems according to the interest of the customer (Frauendorf, 2006). In situations where clients feel dissatisfied by the efforts of the company, he or she has a responsibility of reporting to the management, who also form part of the employees. In addition, high standards of employee services will influence the perceptions of the employees considering that there is a high chance of the customer requesting for more services if the previous services were successful (Reid & Bojanic, 2010). Proper customer relations are also created by the interactions between employees and clients. A successful interaction helps in building mutual relationships between clients and the employees and this in turn translates into a positive reputation of the organization in the public domain (Roetzer, 2012). Employees’ dresses are also form part of essential elements of physical evidence. Dressing is a reflection of the image of the company considering that dresses can be used for branding an organization. In addition, the roles performed by employees when in their uniforms also help in allocating responsibilities as this is an indication of readiness to execute a duty (Frauendorf, 2006). The time and place where the dresses are used will also inform the levels of discipline and knowledge concerning the execution of a specific role during service provision. The equipment used in the delivery of service plays an essential role in defining quality perceptions of the company’s customers. Spotless Company provides its services in the areas of catering and hospitality, cleaning services, facility management, cleaning grounds and gardens, laundry, maintenance, security services and waste management (Lush et al, 2009). These areas require specific tools and equipment for their realization. It is the responsibility of the company to ensure that the tools and equipment it uses in the provision of services are not only up to date but also right for the designated service(Lush et al, 2009). The use of such tools and equipment is a guarantee to the customers that the company is dedicated towards ensuring the provision of efficient services using employees who are trained to handle the machinery effectively (Frauendorf, 2006). 3. Identify, number, and describe three potential fail points (points in the process where problems may occur) and/or bottlenecks (points in the process where backups or slow delivery may occur) Three potential fail points in service delivery include security lapses, waste management and facility management. Security lapses are possible considering the increase in threats related to terrorist attacks. These attacks are often considered sporadic since they sometimes occur without the knowledge of security personnel. Terrorists groups engage in relatively complicated criminal activities. The ability of terrorist to operate within an organization is a threat and may lead to failure of Spotless Company. Waste management is also another area of possible failure considering that Spotless Company only manages wastes for companies that hire its eservices. It is may become difficult to determine the overall role of the company in managing wastes especially if other organizations, which do not hire its services engage in pollution of the environment. Radioactive and electronic wastes also require relatively complex mechanism of disposal and it is important that the company develops mechanism of managing such wastes (Hollins & Shinkins, 2006). Facility management is also another area of potential failure considering that there are unintended threats such as natural calamities that may cause extensive damages surpassing the mandate of the company (Lush et al, 2009). Backups or slow delivery may occur in the provision of cleaning services on grounds and gardens, and maintenance of facilities. This is attributable to the size of the grounds or gardens and the type of dirt that is to be cleaned (Lush et al, 2009). In maintenance, the need to create smarter, greener, safer and better run facilities may appear challenging since it will require that company to understand the role of the facility before deciding on how to make it greener or safer (Roetzer, 2012). 4. Suggest possible solutions/alternatives to address these (potential) problem areas; (4 marks) In response to these potential areas of failure, Spotless has a responsibility of training its employees and on the best ways of managing electronic and radioactive wastes without posing any danger on their lives (Hollins & Shinkins, 2006). This will also involve the innovation or the purchase of facilities that can be used to ensure environmentally friendly ways of managing wastes, such as electronic or radioactive, that are considered a threat to the environment (Hesselbach, & Herrmann, 2011). The institutionalization of adequate security measures to address emerging forms of criminal activities and training staff on crime management may also play a role in mitigating potential terrorist attack threats on the clients the country (Saffer, 2010). Such measure may include adequate training on how to use different weapons in the management of terrorists or sporadic attacks (Reid & Bojanic, 2010). There is also need for more training among the security personnel of Spotless Company to ensure that they are able to handle highly sensitive information, especially intelligence information concerning possible terrorist attacks. These personnel must also be trained on how to use updated intelligence software (Roetzer, 2012). The training of security personnel should also include their ability to sensitize other individual within their target markets on the level of sophistication that the company uses in handling security threats as a technique of attracting more customers (Hollins & Shinkins, 2006). Facility management, maintenance and provision of cleaning services on gardens and grounds require an increase in capacity of the company in terms of its personnel and facilities and this will help in not only improving its efficiency but also its effectiveness in handling enormous amounts of work (Hesselbach, & Herrmann, 2011). 5. Discuss how a service blueprint might be used in each of the following areas in your chosen organization: marketing, human resource management, and operations; Spotless Company can use a service blueprint as a tool for developing a marketing strategy considering its efficiency and effectiveness in making business decisions. Service blueprints are often focused on improving customer relations through innovation (Lush et al, 2009). This is because a service blueprint is an involving process which requires visualization of the factors that are necessary in the production of superior services (Frauendorf, 2006). In addition, through service blueprint Spotless Company can decide on the best mechanisms of providing superior services and the creation of optimal experiences to the potential and actual customers of the business (Hollins & Shinkins, 2006). In the areas of human resource management, service blueprint can help Spotless Company in understanding the areas of strength and weakness of the human resource department. One way through it can be of assistance to the company is through work configuration where workers understand their responsibilities in the process of interacting with the customers of the organization (Hollins & Shinkins, 2006). In addition, it also helps the management in understanding how to ensure work-life balance among employees as a strategy of improving the company’s productivity In the area of operations, service blue print may help Spotless Company in understanding possible threats that exist in the process of delivering services to their clients. In addition, these processes may necessitate the generation of amicable solutions to curb potential and existing challenges. It is through service blueprint that Spotless Company can understand the needs in the company to ensure an increase in productivity (Hill, 2012). In addition, the company will also develop an understanding of the best alternative in dealing with a potential or an actual challenge. For instance in the case of additional training the company may use service blueprint to understand the areas of focus and the best mechanisms to use in facilitating training of its employees on service provision (Hill, 2012). 6. Discuss what was learned in doing this assignment and how it could be applied in the real business world. This assignment has provided a platform of understanding more about the role of service blueprint in the success of an organization. Through this assignment it was easier to use service blueprint as a tool used in describing all the activities within an organization that are definitive of its mandate (Walker, 2010). The assignment also provided a platform of understanding the technique of capturing the entire customer experience from the perspective of the customers and the experiences of the employees from the perspective of the employees (Reid & Bojanic, 2010). This means that to be able to uncover all the information necessary for an improvement of an organization, it is necessary to perform a layout of the organizations especially on its goals, objective and the actual work on the ground (Saffer, 2010). The application of the knowledge about service blueprint in the real world will require a clear articulation of the service processes that are to be blueprinted. This is because organizations often modify service processes tenure that they are in accordance with the needs of their target customers (Samson & Daft, 2011). It is therefore important to ensure that the segment of customers that are targeted by the blue print are specified ad the actions delineated as this forms the foundation of all the other elements of any service blueprint. References Frauendorf, J. (2006). Customer processes in business-to-business service transactions. Wiesbaden: Deutscher Universit̃ts-Verlag. Hesselbach, J., & Herrmann, C. (2011). Functional Thinking for Value Creation: Proceedings of the 3rd CIRP International Conference on Industrial Product Service Systems, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany, May 5th - 6th, 2011. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Hill, A. V. (2012). The encyclopedia of operations management: A field manual and glossary of operations management terms and concepts. Upper Saddle River, N.J: FT Press. Hollins, B., & Shinkins, S. (2006). Managing service operations: Design and implementation. London: Sage Publications. Lush, S., Fleming, J., & Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2009). Spotless 2: More stains and solutions to domestic disasters. Ultimo, N.S.W: ABC Books. Reid, R. D., & Bojanic, D. C. (2010). Hospitality marketing management. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons. Roetzer, P. (2012). The marketing agency blueprint: The handbook for building hybrid PR, SEO, content, advertising, and web firms. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Saffer, D. (2010). Designing for interaction: Creating innovative applications and devices. Berkeley, CA: New Riders. Amos, T. (2008). Human resource management. Wetton, Cape Town: Juta. Samson, D., & Daft, R. L. (2011). Management. South Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning. Walker, J. (2010). Service, satisfaction and climate: Perspectives on management in English language teaching. Bingley: Emerald. Watkins, J. L. (1985). The 100 greatest advertisements: Who wrote them and what they did. New York: Dover Publications. Read More